Improved limits on Fierz interference using asymmetry measurements from the Ultracold Neutron Asymmetry (UCNA) experiment

Sun, X.; Adamek, E.; Allgeier, B.; Bagdasarova, Y.; Berguno, D. B.; Blatnik, M.; Bowles, T. J.; Broussard, L. J.; Brown, M. A.-P.; Carr, R.; Clayton, S.; Cude-Woods, C.; Currie, S.; Dees, E. B.; Ding, X.; Filippone, B. W.; García, A.; Geltenbort, P.; Hasan, S.; Hickerson, K. P.; Hoagland, J.; Hong, R.; Holley, A. T.; Ito, T. M.; Knecht, A.; Liu, C. -Y.; Liu, J.; Makela, M.; Mammei, R.; Martin, J. W.; Melconian, D.; Mendenhall, M. P.; Moore, S. D.; Morris, C. L.; Nepal, S.; Nouri, N.; Pattie, R. W.; Pérez Gálvan, A.; Phillips, D. G.; Picker, R.; Pitt, M. L.; Plaster, B.; Salvat, D. J.; Saunders, A.; Sharapov, E. I.; Sjue, S.; Slutsky, S.; Sondheim, W.; Swank, C.; Tatar, E.; Vogelaar, R. B.; VornDick, B.; Wang, Z.; Wei, W.; Wexler, J. W.; Womack, T.; Wrede, C.; Young, A. R.; Zeck, B. A.

doi:10.1103/physrevc.101.035503

Improved limits on Fierz interference using asymmetry measurements from the Ultracold Neutron Asymmetry (UCNA) experiment

Journal Article · Mon Mar 16 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Physical Review C

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.101.035503· OSTI ID:1820879

; Adamek, E.; Allgeier, B.; Bagdasarova, Y.; Berguno, D. B.; Blatnik, M.; Bowles, T. J.; Broussard, L. J.; Brown, M. A.-P.; Carr, R.; Clayton, S.; Cude-Woods, C.; Currie, S.; Dees, E. B.; Ding, X.; Filippone, B. W.; García, A.; Geltenbort, P.; Hasan, S.; Hickerson, K. P. more »

The Ultracold Neutron Asymmetry (UCNA) experiment was designed to measure the β-decay asymmetry parameter, A₀, for free neutron decay. In the experiment, polarized ultracold neutrons are transported into a decay trap, and their β-decay electrons are detected with ≈4π acceptance into two detector packages which provide position and energy reconstruction. The experiment also has sensitivity to b_n, the Fierz interference term in the neutron β-decay rate. In this work, we determine bn from the energy dependence of A₀ using the data taken during the UCNA 2011–2013 run. In addition, we present the same type of analysis using the earlier 2010 A dataset. Furthermore, motivated by improved statistics and comparable systematic errors compared to the 2010 data-taking run, we present a new b_n measurement using the weighted average of our asymmetry dataset fits, to obtain b_n = 0.066 ± 0.041_stat ± 0.024_syst which corresponds to a limit of -0.012 < b_n < 0.144 at the 90% confidence level.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)

Contributing Organization:: UCNA Collaboration

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; FG02-08ER41557; FG02-97ER41042; SC0014622

OSTI ID:: 1820879

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1604864

Journal Information:: Physical Review C, Journal Name: Physical Review C Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 101; ISSN 2469-9985

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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